People move from one place to another to seek jobs and settlements, leading to overpopulation and outbreak of human diseases. For many years, the United States has presented itself as a country of immigrants. The state has a long history of successfully absorbing individuals from across the world. In the early years, a considerable population of immigrants moved from Europe to the United States. Although migration into the host country remained very strong, the composition of source nations became modified significantly over many years. Both the earliest and the latest waves of immigration contributed to the modified composition of the United States. This paper explores and analyzes the earliest and the latest immigration into the United States.
The Latest Wave of Immigration
The latest wave of immigration started in the 1960s. These immigrants mostly originated from Latin America and Asia and represent a fresh chapter in the United States’ history. According to Howe (2017), 34% of the immigrants came from Asia, and 40% from Latin America. The immigrants from Latin America consisted of about 2.4 million individuals from South America, 1.8 million from Central America, 4 million from the Caribbean, and 6 million from Mexico (Howe, 2017). From Asia, the immigrants comprised of 2 million people from China, 3 million from the Philippines, and over 1 million each from India, Korea, and Vietnam (Howe, 2017). These statistics show immigration from different regions of the world and how the United States has consequently become culturally diverse.
While the popular reaction to immigration that started in the 1960s lacks obvious expressions, there was much opposition between then and now. There were many anti-immigrant political movements because undocumented settlers from other countries evoked significant antipathy from media and politicians. The immigrants were accused of being criminals, sources of communicable diseases, and creators of congestions in parks, schools, and other public amenities. Academics have claimed that the immigrants of the time should not be assimilated because the condition would change the United States to be a nation of two languages and culture. At the same time, Congress passed some punitive laws between the 1990s and 2000s to allow the deportation of refugees including the permanent residents (Dustmann et al., 2017). The arbitrary deportation and detention of the majority of the Muslim immigrants at the beginning of 9/11 is the same as the forced repatriation of the Mexicans between the 1930s and 1950s.
Even considering that immigration improved the labor market, as well as the fiscal system, some Native Americans still believe that the increased number of refugees from other nations is a threat to the United States’ culture and national identity. To make the matter worse, much of the media coverage is focused on undocumented refugees, as well as the issues of the broken borders, but the antipathy against unauthorized immigration regularly spills over to all immigrants. For instance, in the year 1994, the voters in California approved proposition 187 that aimed at limiting access to health care in addition to public schooling for children of undocumented immigrants (Dustmann et al., 2017). Equally, the U.S. reacted by militarizing the Mexican border and has been spending huge amounts of money.
Early Immigration
Early immigration particularly occurred between the period dated 1820s and 1920s. The primary causes of immigration during the 1820s to 1920s are founded on two settings. First, immigration began from groups that were repelled from mother nations. Next, people moved because they got attracted to the United States. In nations such as Germany and the entire United Kingdom, political and religious discontent was at the peak. The condition overwhelmed many of the immigrants from the European region to the United States. In German, political and religious disgruntlement even influenced the renewal of immigration after Napoleonic battles (Howe, 2017). Accordingly, thousands of individuals were driven from various European regions due to the lack of satisfaction with the taxation systems as well as other regulations such as the forest laws.
In other regions, particularly in places where the peasant’s conditions were a little better, the political reforms influenced farmers to consider the opportunities of immigration presented by various agents. Consequently, the majority of men from such regions formed one of the powerful immigrants in the 1830s (Howe, 2017). Additionally, people who tried to start revolutionary movements of the 1830s were all suppressed in different German and European states, thus leading to immigration of a larger population between 1834 and 1837 (Dustmann et al., 2017). In specific, the groups that moved between 1834 and 1837 did so because of the reaction of the political oppressions that became intolerable.
Regarding religious influences, many of the spiritual groups were under pressure caused by the opposition. After immigration, the early forties were characterized by extreme changes in the church of Prussia, driving the majority of the Old Lutherans to the United States (Jenkins, 2017). In one case, the failure of the 1848 attempts of revolution in Germany, as well as Napoleon wars in 1851 caused an increase in the number of emigration (Jenkins, 2017). At the same time, the monarchical institutions were fought and the Irish Catholics were suffering from the disadvantages of a dominated race, subject to a foreign religion, and external land proprietors. The religious agitations and influence from political leaders, along with economic pressures heighten the departure of many people who ended up in the United States.
Impacts of Immigration
Immigration effects are perceived as both negative and positive. Although there is a doubt whether immigration has harmed or improved the host country, demographic and economic theories predict both outcomes. However, economic experts support regulated immigration claiming that the system solved labor demands before the 1920s. Immigration is becoming an issue of concern due to its effect on the spread of human diseases. It results in the transfer of contagious diseases such as Ebola, tuberculosis, diphtheria, and fever. According to Eiste & Wesje (2017), higher numbers of refugees in Europe were diagnosed with communicable diseases in the year 2015. Also, Eiste & Wesje (2017) reported that the number of affected refugees did not reduce in the subsequent year. Such impacts prove the perception of native Americans that immigration caused health issues, hence their quest to contain it.
In a survey conducted in Europe, both immigrant workers, students, and other refugees were reported to have common disease epidemiology. In 51 case studies in Europe, the report determined that 45% of immigrants suffered from tuberculosis, hepatitis B (12%), and malaria (7%) (Eiset & Wejse, 2017). Moreover, there is a history of diphtheria, fever, and Shigella outbreaks among the refugees in Europe. Thus, there is an increased risk of spread of communicable diseases to countries that allow a huge number of unchecked immigration. The issue is attributed to the poor living standards of refugees making them susceptible to infection and spread the diseases when they move around seeking settlements.
Immigration has highly contributed to the population increase in the United States. As noted by Dustmann et al. (2017), the net universal migration rate increased from low levels during the middle of the twentieth century to two per a thousand. The population increased highly in the 1990s after the immigration wave of 1965 began. After 1995, the net universal migrates rate increased to about 3.8 per 1000 during the 1970s (Dustmann et al., 2017). Further, the population reduced to 2.8 in the 1990s but increased to 4.8 during the 1990s. After the Great Recession, the rate dropped to 2.8 but the number has stabilized around 3.2 after restorations of the economy between 2011 and 2013 (Dustmann et al., 2017). Generally, the immigration system has contributed to high records of population growth.
The significant socioeconomic impacts of immigration involved the skill mix of the refugee population. In most cases, when the immigration consisted of skilled people, the residents received a supply of professional workers. At the same time, when the immigration consisted of low-skilled people, the residents received people to perform manual works. However, the less skilled people had insignificant contribution in terms of taxes because of their lower salaries.
A Comparison of the Impact of the Latest Wave with the First Wave of Immigrants
Causes of Immigration
The causes of the earliest immigration were related to disagreements and conflicts. Regarding the first wave, Jenkins (2017) noted that many immigrants moved to the United States to evade dissatisfaction created by political power and religious forces in their homelands. However, the latest wave of immigration highly occurred as people were moving to seek employment and education among other economic values.
Population Involved
The first wave of immigration consisted of people primarily from the European region. According to Dustmann et al. (2017), there has been a considerable swing in the composition of immigrants as well as national origins of refugees’ arrival during the latest wave. For instance, the increased influx of illegal migrants, particularly from Mexico, seemed to have slowed at the beginning of the 2000s but declined after the Great Recession. The primary wave of immigration from Korea increased in the 1980s and that from India and China peaked in the 1990s. The changes in refugees and immigration laws have modified much of the movement in the latest wave including the expansion of temporary migration of professionals under visa programs.
Impact on the United States Society
The economic experts noted that immigration was highly responsive to labor demands before the 1920s. However, the American restrictive laws from the 1920s onwards decreased immigration to low levels and ended the historic connection between economic demand and the migration system (Jenkins, 2017). The immigration policies started in the 1920s, creating several limitations to the system. In summary, the earliest immigration system was not governed by many laws in comparison to the latest one.
Analysis
The research has noted that some groups migrated to the United States because of social stratification related to harassment by political and religious classes. In most cases, social stratification causes negative consequences, including inequalities in ideological, political, social, and economic dimensions. It is necessary to improve people’s life by solving stratification issues. In the United States, racial stratification is one of the primary issues; it results from economic dimensions affecting the labor market, outcomes, and social mobility. Normally, racial stratification consists of parts that perceive other groups such as black Americans as people of a different class. Accordingly, the whites exclude blacks from using various public resources such as better medical care and quality education. In some instances, the whites discriminate against blacks based on class, color, and social statuses.
Conflict theory is one of the concepts that explain the issues of stratification. In this research, the natives have been seen to engage in conflicts with immigrants because of issues related to resources. The immigrants are perceived as the ones depleting resources in the country, thereby creating conflicts. Critical theory also explains why the immigrants experienced challenges from both their countries as well as their hosts. Critical race theory shows how classes caused by social, law, and power differences cause disagreements among communities. In this research, most of the immigrants moved to the United States because of the dissatisfaction with political and religious power. Additionally, the immigrants also suffered because of laws such as the ones limiting them from accessing various public amenities like schools and quality health care.
Conclusion and Recommendations
In essence, the primary solution to uncontrolled immigration should start by exploring the causes of the problem. In a case where factors such as racism drive stratification, relevant authorities such as the government should act by establishing laws that protect the oppressed groups. Conflicts could be solved through proper political and social actions such as ruling justly to ensure satisfaction among citizens. Indeed, the United States is a global leader in terms of the population of immigrants it has. As noted above, social stratification was the main reason for the first wave of immigration. On the other hand, the search for better employment and education opportunities drives the latest wave of immigration in the United States.
References
Dustmann, C., Fasani, F., Frattini, T., Minale, L., & Schönberg, U. (2017). On the economics and politics of refugee migration. Economic Policy, 32(91), 497-550. Web.
Eiset, A., & Wejse, C. (2017). Review of infectious diseases in refugees and asylum seekers—current status and going forward. Web.
Howe, I. (2017). World of our fathers: The journey of the East European Jews to America and the life they found and made. Open Road Media.
Jenkins, P. (2017). A history of the United States. Macmillan International Higher Education.